"This isn't a situation I find amusing," Alex told her.

Dani stood. Despite the dangerous heels, she was still a good six inches shorter than him. "You think I do? I spent my whole life thinking I was one person and suddenly I may be someone else. Do you have any idea what it's like to question your very existence? I' m sorry if my search for my father gets in the way of your daily schedule."

She was mad. Alex could see the fire in her eyes. She was also scared. She tried to hide the latter, but it was visible, at least to him. When he'd been very young, he'd learned what it was like to live in constant terror and the ability to recognize it in others had never left him.

But was she who she claimed? Her timing made him more suspicious than normal and he was, by nature and training, a cautious man. With him, trust had to be earned and once broken, was never given again. He doubted there was anything Dani Buchanan could do to make him trust her.

Alex studied her, searching for similarities to the senator. It was there, in her smile, the shape of her chin. But how many random strangers had a passing resemblance to each other? She could have stumbled across some information about the senator's affair with Marsha Buchanan and decided to use that to her advantage.

"We'll need to do a DNA test," he said flatly.

"I agree," Dani said, meeting his gaze with a steady look of her own. "I want to be sure."

"I'm sure," Mark said as he stood. "But testing will confirm everything. In the meantime, Dani, I'd like us to get to know each other."

Dani's smile was both hopeful and apprehensive. "Me, too. We could go to lunch or something."

"No public meetings," Alex said.

Mark nodded. "He's right. I'm a public figure. Having lunch with a pretty young woman would get people talking. We don't want that." He thought for a second. "Why don't you come over to the house for dinner tonight? You can meet the family."